Comedian John Oliver hopes Russell Crowe's jockstrap will keep last Blockbuster open

16 April 2018

Newsdesk

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Comedian John Oliver plans to use the jockstrap he bought from Russell Crowe's recent divorce sale to save a video store in Alaska.

The prankster revealed he spent $7,000 (GBP4,900) on the odd memorabilia item during his weekly show Last Week Tonight on Sunday (15Apr18) and explained he was sending it to a Blockbuster store in Anchorage, hoping the interest will keep the place open.

He also plans to send shorts and a robe Crowe wore in 2005 boxing film Cinderella Man, a well as a hood from Robin Hood, and a vest the Oscar winner donned for Les Miserables. Oliver and bosses at HBO, the network behind his cult show, picked up all the items from Crowe's recent online garage sale.

Oliver has posted an image of himself posing with the auction items online, urging bosses at the Anchorage Blockbuster store to call him and arrange a pick-up.

During his show on Sunday, the Brit explained the Blockbuster store is the only one still standing in America, thanks mainly to slower streaming services and more expensive rates in Alaska that restrict locals from watching films and TV shows online.

He has given the bosses at the final remaining Blockbuster 48 hours to contact his show, and all the Crowe items would be the store's for display.

The Gladiator star's divorce auction netted him a staggering $3.7 million (GBP2.6 million) in just five hours.

The 54-year-old star gave fans the chance to buy 227 items he had collected over his decades-long film career at the Art of Divorce sale. He live-streamed the auction at Sotheby's Australia on 7 April (18) via his Facebook page.

The leather jock strap the actor wore in Cinderella Man proved to be the most popular piece in the run up to the auction.

“I put it in the collection as a piece of whimsy and a bit of a gag. Funny enough, it’s garnered a lot of attention," Crowe joked. Among the other items was his death armour worn for his Oscar-winning performance in Gladiator, which was sold for $125,000 (GBP89,000), while another piece from the Ridley Scott directed movie, a Roman chariot replica, made $65,000 (GBP46,000).

The auction took place two days before the actor and his estranged wife Danielle Spencer were officially divorced after separating in 2012.